HA NOI — Newcomers Laos caused the upset of the AFF Futsal Championship to date by beating tournament veterans Viet Nam 5-2 in Bangkok while Indonesia thumped the Philippines 7-0.Laos, who almost scored an upset against Malaysia the day before, were quicker off the block than Viet Nam, scoring their first goal in the seventh minute thanks to some deft work by captain Valasine Dalaphone.

Viet Nam’s Truong Quoc Tuan tied the score two minutes later, but then Lao’s Anakone Sayakone scored again in the 14th minute and the underdogs did not look back from then on.

After the break Phetsamay Thongmany, Etdy Douang-matphon and Phonepaseuth Sysoutham scored in quick succession to put Laos four goals up.

Viet Nam’s Nguyen Quang Minh pulled one back in the 38th minute but it was too little too late.

"It was a good team effort and we have made significant progress from the match yesterday. We now look forward to playing against Brunei tomorrow," said Viengkeo Phommakaxay, Laos’ head coach.

Meanwhile, Indonesia walked over the Philippines in their second match of Group A.The Philippines were a bit off colour compared to their first game against Thailand on Wednesday.

Ariel Zerrudo conceded an own goal in the fourth minute before Indonesia’s Deny Handoyo added a second two minutes later.

Indonesia then turned on the charm after the break to slam home five more goals – Sukma Nagara in the 25th minute, Fachry Assegaf (28th minute), Topas Pamungkas (29th) and Achmad Syaibani (33rd and 35th).

"We made some mistakes in the first half because the players were a little tense. But we showed today that we can play good Futsal," added Justinus Lhaksana, Indonesia’s head coach.

In other matches, Malaysia scored their second win of the tournament by trouncing Brunei 7-1, while hosts Thailand blasted Myanmar 7-2.

"We got what we wanted from this game. Now it is important to look to winning our last group game tomorrow [against Viet Nam] to top the group," added Malaysia’s head coach P Balakrishnan.

"We are on our way to a place in the semi-finals," added Kraiserm Tohtubtiang, Thailand’s team manager.

In the next round, Viet Nam play Malaysia, Laos face Brunei, Myanmar play the Philippines and Thailand clash with Indonesia. — VNS